CA1116401A - Apparatus for production of a stable slurry of milled coal and a hydrocarbon oil - Google Patents
Apparatus for production of a stable slurry of milled coal and a hydrocarbon oilInfo
- Publication number
- CA1116401A CA1116401A CA000325813A CA325813A CA1116401A CA 1116401 A CA1116401 A CA 1116401A CA 000325813 A CA000325813 A CA 000325813A CA 325813 A CA325813 A CA 325813A CA 1116401 A CA1116401 A CA 1116401A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- coal
- rotary drum
- liquid mixture
- heating medium
- discharge
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10L—FUELS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NATURAL GAS; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS OBTAINED BY PROCESSES NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C10G, C10K; LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS; ADDING MATERIALS TO FUELS OR FIRES TO REDUCE SMOKE OR UNDESIRABLE DEPOSITS OR TO FACILITATE SOOT REMOVAL; FIRELIGHTERS
- C10L1/00—Liquid carbonaceous fuels
- C10L1/32—Liquid carbonaceous fuels consisting of coal-oil suspensions or aqueous emulsions or oil emulsions
- C10L1/322—Coal-oil suspensions
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S241/00—Solid material comminution or disintegration
- Y10S241/604—Plural inlets for diverse solid materials
Landscapes
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
- General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Organic Chemistry (AREA)
- Crushing And Grinding (AREA)
- Mixers With Rotating Receptacles And Mixers With Vibration Mechanisms (AREA)
- Accessories For Mixers (AREA)
- Feeding, Discharge, Calcimining, Fusing, And Gas-Generation Devices (AREA)
- Physical Or Chemical Processes And Apparatus (AREA)
- Liquid Carbonaceous Fuels (AREA)
- Solid Fuels And Fuel-Associated Substances (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Coarsely crushed coal and preheated fuel oil are supplied into a ball mill and subjected to a combined milling, agitating, and mixing action, whereupon a liquid mixture in stable slurry state is produced. Water originally contained in the coal is separated by evaporation in this process particularly when heat is applied to the process materials during the process. The resulting stable slurry is suitable for use as fuel or as a starting material in chemical processes.
Coarsely crushed coal and preheated fuel oil are supplied into a ball mill and subjected to a combined milling, agitating, and mixing action, whereupon a liquid mixture in stable slurry state is produced. Water originally contained in the coal is separated by evaporation in this process particularly when heat is applied to the process materials during the process. The resulting stable slurry is suitable for use as fuel or as a starting material in chemical processes.
Description
n:~
BACKGROUND OF THE Ii~VE~TION
This invention relates to an apparatus for produeing a liquid mixture in slurry state which is formed by mixing partieles of eoal with a hydroearbon oil and grinding or milling the eoal partieles together witll the oil~ The slurry-state liquid mixture tllus obtained ean be sprayed and burned by a ~ur]ler.
Ileretofore, there l1.1VC bCCn VariOUS tCCI1I10I0giCa1 dCVC10l)mCI1tS
alld applications relatillg to tlle production of slurry-state fluids by mixing ~I hydroearbon oil, SUCI1 as tuel oil obtained by distillation of crude oil, for uses sueh as burner fuel witll a eoal after it h.ls been milled into ~ine powder for the purpose of obtaining a fluid mi.Yture eonvenient for pipeline eonveyanee or of obtaining a fluid mixture of high ealorifie value.
In addition to its use as a fuel as mentioned above, a eoal/hydro-earbon oil slurry of this eharaeter has attraeted attention in view of its uses as a starting material for various ehemieal proeesses.
This eoal/hydroearbon oil slurry is required, of eourse, to have an unehanging quality not only in its produetion proeess but also in its states oftransportationand storage. Aecordingly, the requisites ~hich this slurry must fulfil are that the coal particles thus mixed be fine partieles, that they be of a speeific partiele sizc clistributioll, tlmt they mairltain a homogeneously dispersed state, alld that sediment.ltivll scl~ tioll and coagulatioll lumpillg of the coal p;lrticles must not OCCUI`.
SU~ R~' Ol: llIE IN~l.NrlON
_ __ _ . . _ _ ___ _ ___ _ 'I`he presellt invelltioll rel;ltcs to a llovel app;lr.ltus tor carryill~
out wet-type millillg of a coal ~nd a llydrocalbon oil to provide such a slurry.
Aceording to this invention therc is provided an ap~aratus for produeing a liquid mixture of a eoal and a hydrocarbon oil eomprising: a ball mill ineluding a substantially horizontal rotary drum having a horizontal ~B ~
1~6~
axis and inlet and outlet end covers, said rotary drum having inlet and outlet bosses of cylindrical shape respectively fixed with mutually coaxial alignment to said inlet and outlet end covers and extending axially outwardly of the drum; heat applying means disposed around and secured to the outer surface of the drum; bearing means for rotatably supporting said bosses;
means for supplying througll said inlet boss intO the rotary drum the coal whicll prcviously h.ls bcen coarsely crushed and thc hyclrocarbon oil; mealls for plcileatillg the llydIocarboll oil l~rior to its being thtls supl)lied into the rotary drulll; mealls tor rotatin~ thc rotary drum to mill, agitate, and mix 1(1 therewitllin the coal and the oil thereby to form a liquid mixture; a discharge duct fixedly connected to said outlet boss so as to be rotatable witll the outlet boss for conducting therethrough the liquid mixture as well as any water, which was originally contained in the coal and which has been separatecl by evaporation from the liquid mixture, out of the rotary drum; a stationary discharge tower slidably supporting therein the free end of said discharge duct so as to receive the liquid mixture and water thereinto, said discharge tower having a bottom part to which the liquid mixture flows down and a top part through which the water flows upward; heating medium supply and dis-charge pipe means extending througll said discharge duct and said discharge tower and having one end connected to said heat applying mealls and the other end disposed outside said discharge tower for supl-lying and cliscllarging a heatillg mcdium to and from the hcat a})l-lying mc~.llls, said sul)l-ly and discllargc pipe mealls bcing rigiclly conllected to the rotary clr~ull allcl rotat.lble thcre-with; a rotary jOillt conllectillg saicl pile IllC`allS to he.lting me.llls forheating and circulatillg the hc?atillg meclillm; mealls for conchlctillg the liquicl mixture from said bottom part of the dischargc? tower to a stor.-ge tank; and means for drawing out the water from said top part of the discharge tower~
4~1 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAI~INGS
In the accompanying drawings which illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation~ with some parts cut away, some parts shown in vertical section, and some parts shown in schematic fonm, showinc one example of an ap~,a-ratus accordinc3 to this invention FIG. 2 is a relatively cnlarged sidc elevation, witl some parts cut away and some }~arts sho~m in vertical section, showinc3 the material supply part of the millinc3 ¦ machine o~ thc apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is ~ perspcctive viet~ showinc3 one example of thc sha~e o a hcating pii~c for hcatiny the cylindrical wall of a rotary drum of the ~i.lling machine of the appa-ratus shown .in FIG. l;
FIC. ~ is an cnlarc3cd sida elcvatioil, wit!l parts cut away and parts sllown in vcrtical section, of one yart on the discharcJe part of the millin~ machine of thc al~paratus shown in FIG. l;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view, with ~arts cut away and parts shown in loncJitudinal section, showing a rotary joint used in ~)e apparatus illustrated in FIG.l;
FIG. 6 is a cross section ta];en alon~ thc plane indicated by linc VI-VI in FIG. 4 as viewed in the arrow ¦ dir~ction;
¦ FIG. 7 is a cross SeCtiOII ~akcn a1QI1(J thc I~lanc indicatcd by linc VII-VII in FIG. 4 as vicwccl in tllc arrow dircction; allcl ¦. FIGS. ~ and ~ are per~s~ectiva views respcctivcly ¦ showinc3 exam~les of modifications of mealls for hcatincJ
the cylinclrical wall of the rotary dru~ of tlle milliny machine.
_ ~ _ ~ ~ ~ 6 ~'3 DETAILED DESCRIPTI0~
Referring to the drawings, and most particularly to FIG. 1, a coal such as coke, anthracite, bituminous coal, or brown coal is subjected before-hand to suitable coarse crushing and then is fed into the illustrated appara-tus through a coal supplying device 1 such as a holper as shown in FIG. 1.
From the hopper 1, the coal ls sent to a meterillg and feeclillg dcvice 3 eitllcr directly or by way of a pilrticlc sizc adjustincllt dcvicc '. 11l thc p;llticlc sizo udjustlllc;lt dcvicc 2, tllC p.lrticle sizc of thc coal is orclill;lriiy udjusted to 15mnl. or lcss or to 20mm. or lcss. Ihc IllCtCI'ill~ .Illd fCC`dillg dcvicc 3 fec(ls thc coal ut u specific metercd rate into a wct-typc ball mill ~, whicl is a wct~typc grinding machine.
On one halld, fuel oil uscd as the hyclrocarbon oil is puml)ed from a reservoir tank 5 by a pump 6 to a lleat-exchange device, where the oil is preheated to a specific temperature. The oil thus preheated is sent through a pipe line 8 into the inlet end of the ball mill ~, where it is mixed with the coal fed into the ball mill, and the coal is ground. The heat-exchange device 7 is supplied with heat from a heating device (not shown) via a heat-ing medium such as steam sent into the heat-e~cllange device tllrough a pipe line 9. The heating medium after 4~1 it has given up heat t.o the fuel oil is discharged from the heat-exchange device 7 through a pipe line 10.
The ratio of the quantities of the coal and the fuel oil fed into the ball mill 4 differs with factors such as the conditions of the wet grinding, resistance to transferring of the slurry, the method of storing the slurry, and the purpose of use of the slurry, but, in general, a high blending ratio such that the coal content becomes ~0 percent by weight is desirable. In thls con-nection, depending on the above mentioned conditions and the purpose of use of the slurry, the coal after leaving the coal supplying device 1 is sent directly to the meter-ing and feeding device 3, by-passing the particle size adjustment device 2.
The ball mill 4 used as a wet-type grinder has a construction as described below. This ball mill 4 has a rotary drum 12 rotatably supported to rotate about a horizontal axis of rotation. The inlet or upstream end and outlet or downstream end of this rotary drum 12 in its axial direction are respectively covered by end covers 13 and 14. A boss 15 is integrally secured to the inlet end cover 13, while a boss 16 is integrally secured to the outlet cover 14 and is coaxially ali~ned with the boss 15. These bosses 15 and 16 are rotatably journaled and supported by bearings 18 and 19, respectively, which are in turn supported on a common base or foundation 17.
Thus, the rotary drum 12 is rotatably supported at its ~64~
bosses 15 and 16 by the bearings 18 and 19. The rotary drum is driven in rotation by a driving power source (not shown) through a pinion (also not shown) meshed with a large gear 20 fixed to the inlet end cover 13.
Similarly as in a conventional ball mill, a large number of metal balls 22 to function as rolling struc-tures for the double purposes of agitation and grinding are provided in Eree state within the interior of the rotary drum 12.
An annular inner flange 23 is fixed at its radially outer periphery to the inner wall surface of the boss 15 at its inner end (or right-hand end as viewed in FIGS.
1 and 2) and is fixed at its radially inner rim to the inner end of a sealing cylinder 26 disposed coaxially within the boss 15. An annular outer flange 24 is fixed at its outer peripheral part to the outer end of the boss 15 and is fixed also to the outer end of the sealing cylinder 26. The flange 24 extends radially inward beyond the outer end of the sealing cylinder 26 toward a feed tube 33 described hereinafter. A helical sealing screw 27 is fixed to the inner wall surface of the sealing cylinder 26 in coaxial relation thereto.
As shown in FIG. 1, a pair o rails 29 is laid on the base 17 and disposed in parallel relation to the axial direction of the rotary drum 12. A carriage or truck 31 having a chassis 31a and wheels 30 is movably supported on these rails 29. A support pedestal 32 is 4~1 fixedly mounted on the chassis 31a at its end nearest the rotary drum 12. As shown in the relatively enlarged side view in FIG. 2, a feed tube 33 is mounted horizontal-ly on the pedestal 32. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, this feed tube 33 com2rises two concentric tubes. A coal feed stack 35 is communicatively joined to the upper part of the feed tube 33 at a position near the outer end -thereof or the end thereof remote from the rotary drum 12.
The other end of the feed tube 33, nearest the rotary drum 12, is open, while the outer end of the feed tube 33 is closed by an end cover plate 36, which has a central hole and is provided in this central hole with a bearing bush 37. A fuel oil feeding nozzle 38, to which the downstream end of the aforementioned pipe line 8 ls con-nected, is connected to a side part of the feed tube 33 to inject fuel into the interior thereof. The coal from the aforedescribed metering and feeding device 3 is fed into the above mentioned coal feed stack 35 as indicated by the arrow mark C. The aforementioned pre-heated fuel oil is fed through the pipe line 8 to the nozzle 38 and injectcd thereby into the feed tube 33.
A bearing support structure 40 is mounted on the chassis 31a of the truck 31 at a position near the end thereof remote from the rotary drum 12. This bearing support structure 40 supports two coaxially aligned bearings 41, which in turn rotatably support a rotating shaft 42. This shaft 42 is coupled at its one end by a coupling 43 to the outer end of a feed screw shaft 44, these two shafts 42 and 44 being coaxially aligned with the feed tube 33. The feed screw shaft 44 is passed through the above mentioned bearing bush 37 and extends into the feed tube 33 through almost the entire length thereo:E. A feed screw 45 is coaxially secured to the Eeed screw shaEt 44 along its part within the feed tube 33. A sprocket 47 is coaxially fixed to the outer end, or the end remote from the coupling 43, of the shaft 42.
The shaft 42 is driven in rotation by a motor (not shown) mounted on the truck 31 throu~h a dri~.~in~ sprocket, an endless chain (also not shown), and the sprocket 47.
In the case where the truck 31 is moved along the rails 29 in the direction away from the rotary drum 12, the feed tube 33 mounted on the truck 31 is extracted out of and separated from the sealing cylinder 26 and the sealing screw 27. Then, when the truck 31 is advanced in the opposite direction toward the rotary drum 12, the feed tube 33 enters the sealing cylinder 26 through a central hole of the aforedescribed outer flange 24. As the feed tube 33 thus enters the sealing cylinder 26, a seal packi.ng 48 secured to the rim of the central hole of the outer flange 24 elastically contacts the outer cylindrical surface of the feed tube 33, whereby a sealed state is established between the inner rim of the flange 24 and the outer cylindrical surface of the feed tube 33. When the feed tube 33 is fully inserted into its innermost position, its open discharge end is posi-tioned within the interior space of the rotary dru-n 12.
As shown in FIG. 1, a heating medium passageway 50 is provided around the outer cylindrical surface of the rotary dru~ 12 for the purpose of heating the cylindrica~
wall of the same. While it is possihle for this heatin~
medium passa~eway to assume almost any form suitable for heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12, it can be formed, for example, by a pipe bent and installed in a weaving pattern of back-and-forth extensions parallel to the drum axis as shown in FIG. 3. This pipe 50 of weaving pattern can be supplied with a heating medium such as steam introduced as indicated by the arrow mark 51 through the interior of the boss 16 on the outlet side and conducted to the pipe 50 via branch pipe paths 53 and 52. In this case, after passing through the pipe 50 of weaving pattern and heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12, the heating medium passes through pipe paths 54 and 55 and is conducted outward thr~ugh the interior of the boss 16 as indicated by the arrow mark 56.
For the purpose of supplying and discharging the heating medium to and from the cylindrical wall oE the rotary drum 12 through paths as described above, mechanisms of the construction shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 through 7, for example, can be used.
4~
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a flow passageway coupl-ing block 57 having therewithin passageways for a heating medium is fixed coaxially to the ce~tral part of the outer surface of end cover 14 on the outlet side of the rotary drum 12. This block 57 is provided therewithln with an inlet passageway 59 communicating at its outer end with a heating medium supply pipe 58, two passageways 60 and 61 branching ~rom the inlet passageway as shown in FIG. 6, and passageways 62 and 63 communicating with the inner ends of the passageways 60 and 61. Furthermore, the passageways 62 and 63 communicatively connected at their inner ends to the above described pipe paths 52 and 53, respectively, as shown in FIG. 3.
On one hand, the above described pipe paths 54 and 55 shown in FIG. 3 are communicatively connected to the inner ends of discharge passageways 66 and 67, respectively, also provided in the flow path coupling block 57 as shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the passage-way 67 communicates with the passageway 66 through a passageway 68. The passageway 66 extends through the block 57 in a direction parallel to the axial direction of the rotary drum 12 and is communicatively connected at its outer end by way of a pipe 69 to a heating medium discharge pipe 70. This heating medium discharge pipe 70 is disposed relative to the heating medium supply pipe 58 to be coaxially outside thereof and spaced apart therefrom.
4~1 As shown in FIG. 1, the heating medium supply pipe 58 and the heating medium discharge pipe 70 extend coaxially relative to and away from the rotary drum 12, and are rotatably supported at their ends remote from the rotary drum 12 by a rotary joint 72.
As shown in detail in FIG. 5, this rotary joint 72 comprises, essentially, a~ inner cylinder 72a, a middl~
cylinder 72b having an end wall 76 with a central through hole, and an outer cylinder 72c with a closed outer end~
These cylinders are integrally secured together in coaxial alignment by bolts 73 and 74 passed through their adjoining joint flanges. The end wall 76 constitutes a bearing which rotatably supports the outer end of the above described heating medium supply pipe 58. In order to isolate the interior space of the middle cylinder 72b and that of the outer cylinder 72c from each other, the end wall 76 is provided at its central hole with a seal-ing packing 77, which is fixel to the end wall 76 and is in intimate contact with outer surace of the heating medium supply pipe 58. The inner cylinder 72a houses and supports a bearing device 78 fo-- rotatably support-ing the outer end of the above described heating medium discharge pipe 70. The inner cylinder 72a is provided with a sealing packing 79 interposed be.ween a par. of the inner cylinder 72a and the extreme end surface of the heating medium discharge pipe 70.
By the above described construction, the interior of ~;;
the heating medium supply pipe 58 is communicatively joined to the interior space of the outer cylinder 72c, while the interior of the heating medium discharge pipe 70 is communicatively joined to the interior space of the middle cylinder 72b. An inlet fitting 81 for intro-ducing the heating medium is communicatively connected to the outer cylinder 72c, while an outlet fittin~ 82 for discharging the heating medium is communicatively connected to thc middle cylinder 72b. Thc rotary join-t of the above described construction is supported by a fixed structure (not shown) of the apparatus.
Referring again to FIG. 1, the heating medium which flows through the above described passageways and pipe paths is reheated and circulated by a heating medium system of the following organization. The heating medium is heated by a heating medium heating device 84 comprising a fuel burner 85 and a heating tube 86. The heating medium discharged out of the above described rotary joint 72 through the outlet fitting 82 flows through a return pipe line 89 and is pumped by a pump 87 to the heating device 84. The heating me~ium thus heated is sent through a supply pipe line 88 and enters the rotary joint 72 through the inlet fittlng 81.
As shown in FIG. 1, one end of a discharge duct for conducting out the liquid mixture of the coal and the fuel oil produced in the rotary drum 12 is inserted into the inner side of the boss 16 on the discharge side of the rotary drum 12. This discharge duct 90 is fixedly sup-ported and does not rotate when the boss 16 rotates unitarily with the rotary drum 12. The other end of the discharge duct 90 communicates with the interior of a discharge tower 91. The bottom 92 of this dlscharge tower 91 constitutes a part where the liquid mixture is taken out. The liquid mixture thus taken out is conducted by way oE an intermediate tank 93 and a pump 94 to a liquid mixture storage tank 95. The top part 97 of the discharge tower 91 constitutes a part where the discharged gas component is taken out. This top part 97 is connected through a separator 98 and a gas blower 99 to a gas diffusion cylinder 100.
A through opening is provided in a central part of the end cover 14 on the discharge end of the rotary drum 12, and a grating is fitted in this opening, although this constructional feature is not shown in FIG. 1.
The interior of the rotary drum communicates through this grating with the interior of the discharge duct 90.
Furthermore a bearing 101 is fixedly supported within the discharge lower 91 and serves to rotatahly support an intermediate part of the heating medium discharge pipe 70.
The operation of the apparatlls of the above described organization according to this invention will now be described.
The rotary drum 12 is driven in rotation by power transmitted from the aforementioned motor (not shown) through the pinion and the gear 20 fixed to the rotary drum7 At the same time, the feed screw 45 on the advanced truck 31 is driven by power transmitted from the motor (not shown) through the sprocket 47. On another hand, the heating medium heated by the heating device 84 is sent by the operation of -the pump 87 through the supply pipeline 88, the rotary joint 72, the heating medium supply pipe 58, the flow path coupling block 57, and pipe paths 52 and 1.0 53 into the heating pipe 50, therebv heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12. ~fter heating this cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12, the heating medium flows through the pipe paths 54 and 55, the flow patn coupling block 57, the heating medium discharge pipe 70, the rotary joint 72, the return pipe line 89, and the pump 87 to return again to the heating device 84.
With the apparatus in the above described operational state, the coarsely crushed coal is supplied continuously through the coal supply device 1, the particle size adjust~ent device 2, and the metering and feeding device 3 into the coal feed stack 35 of the ball mill 4.
This coal thus enters the feed tubc 33 and is conveyed toward the inlet of the rotary drum 12 by the actiorl of the feed screw 45. ~t the same time, the fuel oil which has been preheated by the heat exchanging device 7 is injected through the nozzle 38 into the feed tube 3~ and is mixed with the coal. The coal and the fuel oil mixed in this manner is fed continuously from the open end of the feed tube 33 into the rotary drum 12.
In the rotary drum 12, the coal and the fuel thus fed in a previously mixed state are moved in tumbling motion by the rotation of the rotary drum 12, and the coal pieces agitate the fuel oil. At the same time, the balls 22 within the rotary drum 12 impart a finely grind-ing action to the coal and, at the same time, uniformly mix the coal and the fuel oil.
The coal and the fuel oil which have been subjected to the above described grinding and mixing action within the rotary drum 12 are heated by the heat within the drum due to the heating of the drum cylindrical wall by the heating medium, whereby activation eneray is imparted to the coal and fuel oil. At the same time, the balls 22 are also heated. Consequently, in addition to the above described actions of agitation, grinding, and mixing, the volatile water component of water such as that contained in the coal and the fuel oil separates physicochemically from the liquid mixture of the coal and fuel oil during the rotary milling process and rises to the llpper p~rt of the rotary drum 12.
During the above described process, the particles of dust formed as a result of the qrinding are intercepted by the agitated surface of the liquid undergoing -tumbling.
That is, the dust particles are captured within the liquid mixture of the coal and fuel oil because of the tackiness 4~
of the liquid mixture and are not swept out together with the exhaust gases.
The coal is ground and mixed by agitation with the fuel oil in this manner and, together with the fuel oil, becomes a completely mixed liquid from which the volatile matter has been evaporated off. This liquid mixture exhibits tackiness as a uniform slurry and at an activation temperature is discharged continuously through the afore-mentioned gra-ting into thc discharge duct 90.
The liquid mixture of the coal and fuel oil thus discharged accumulates in the bottom 92 of the discharge tower 91, from which it is sent to the intermediate tank and, further, is finally stored in the storage tank 95.
The liquid mixture thus sent into the storage tank 95 is a thoroughly uniformized or homogenized slurry. For this reason, solid-liquid separation does not occur during its transfer process or at the stage of its storage in the storage tank 95. Accordingly, as a coal-fuel oil mixed fuel, this slurrv does not undergo variations in its material characteristics with the lapse of time and can be fed at any time to a device such as a burner.
Although heat energy is dissipated from this slurry during the transfer process and during storage, this has no effect whatsoever on the quality of the liquid mixture.
The volatile matter such as water which has evapor-ated in the rotary drum 12 passes through the discharge duct 90 to enter the discharge tower 9i and then flows through the top part 97 of the tower to the separator 98.
In the separator 98 any mist component mixed in free form in the volatile matter is separated from the gases. The mist component becomes a liquid, which is drained out through the bottom of the separator 98 as indicated by 102. The gas leaves the separator 98 from its upper part and is 6ent by the gas blower 99 to the gas diffusion cylinder 100, from which -the gas is dispersed into the atmosphere. While the separation of the mist is carricd out in the separator 98, in actual practice, almost all of the mist produced in the rotary drum 12 adheres to the liquid mixture and is thus intercepted because it contacts the liquid mixture, which has tackiness. For this reason, only a very small quantity of mist is sent out of the dis-charge tower 91.
At the time of maintenance and inspection of the ball mill 4, the truck 31 is retracted away from the rotary drum 12 along the rails 29. As a consequence, the feed tube 33 and the feed screw 45 therewithin are extracted outward, leaving the sealing cylinder 26 and the sealing screw 27. Therefore, cleaning, inspection, and repairing of the interior of the rotary drum 12 can be carried out through the interior of the scaling cylinder 26. The feed screw 45 can also be cleaned, inspected, and repaired.
While, in the embodiment of this invention described above, balls 22 are placed in the ball mill 4, it is also possible to use, instead, metal rods of suitable length.
! 18-Furthermore, depending on the necessity, a gas such as air may be sent by a blower 104 through a heating device 105 to be heated and then blown into the feed tube 33 as indicated in FIG. 1 thereby to further impart heat to the mixture of coal and fuel oil.
The hydrocarbon oil used in this invention is not limited to fuel oil, which is used as one example thereof in the above described embodiment of thc invention. Other hydrocarbon oils such as a liquid obtained from distilla-tion of fuel oil may be used instead.
Furthermore, the grinding machine 4 is not limited to an ordinary ball mill but may be some other equivalent means such as a vibratory ball mill or an agitation mill.
Still other modifications are possible in the means fox heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12.
For example, instead of using the heating pipe 50 instal-led in a weaving pattern as shown in FIG. 3 as means for heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12, a heating pipe 50A in the form of a helical coil as indicated in FIG. 8 may be used. Still another heating system comprises, as indicated in FIG. ~: a drum cylindrical wall of double-shell construction 107 with a hollow space between the inner and outer shells; baffles lO8 suitably installed in the hollow space for guiding the heating medium through an effective flow path as indicated by arrows; means for supplying and returning the heating medium as indicated by the arrow marks 51 and 56; pipe paths 109 to 110 for conducting the heating medium thus supplied to the hollow space; and pipe paths 111 and 112 for conducting the heating medium to the return path.
tn use of the apparatus, thc application of heat to the millillg process, such as thc hcati.ng of thc cylinclrical ~iall of thc mill drum or the i.ntro~uction of a hot gas into thc drum, is optional, but the prelleat:illg of thc hydroc~rbon o;l l1rior to thc supply.ing thercof into the m:illing macll.ine .is a ro(lui.s;itc. Sincc thc hcat cap.lcity of a milling m.lcllillc, sucll as, for examplc, a ball mill, in cntirety is large, a trcmclldous qualltity o:f heat energy i.s nccessclry for hcating the entire machinc~ In contrast, thc preheating of the hydrocarbon oil prior to the supplying thcreof into the milling machine is accompanied by small heat energy loss. ~loreover, im-mediately after it is injected into the milling machine, the hydrocarboIl oil directly contacts the coal, whereby the aforedescribed actions such as the moisture evaporation action are rapidly and efficiently carried out. Tllen, the numerous cyclec of colliding and abrading actions of the rolling elements such as balls relative to the coal particles as ~iell as the contacting, mix-ing, and diffusing actions of the solid, liquid, and gaseous mattcr in the machine are effcctively carried out.
Si.nce the llydrocarboll oil is al~ s prcscllt in tilC mill.illg nracllille, the milling machillc fullctiolls as a ~ct-tylc milling m;lcllillc. I`ll:is mc~lns th~lt a dry fine-griIlding proccss, as in ~nowll proccsscs, for millillg of thc coal is not carried out. Accordillgly, tllc d;lllgcr of c~l)losioll dUC t~ finc coal dust is eliminated, aIld safe operation bccomcs possiblc. Ihis mcalls tllc advantageous possibility of rcduciIlg safcty equiplllcnt by that m~lch.
Furtllermorc, as a beneficial result of tllc heatcd state of the coal particles and the hydrocarboll oil in the milling machine, thc moisture in the coal can be readily removed. Therefore, there is no necessity to dry the coal beforehand. In addition, by increasing the fluidity of liquid mixture in slurry state formed in the milling machine, it becomes possible to form a uniform dispersed phase.
The liquid mixture in slurry state produced, irrespective of whether it is used as a fuel or whether it is used as a chemical starting material, has several advantageous features, among which are small ~luctua-tion of coul ratio, infrc(lucncy of prcsencc of coarsely large coal larticlcs, noll-occurronce of sc~J:imcnt.ltion, scl)aratioll, coaglllation, all~ ardcl~ g, and goo~ stablc ~ual;ty.
BACKGROUND OF THE Ii~VE~TION
This invention relates to an apparatus for produeing a liquid mixture in slurry state which is formed by mixing partieles of eoal with a hydroearbon oil and grinding or milling the eoal partieles together witll the oil~ The slurry-state liquid mixture tllus obtained ean be sprayed and burned by a ~ur]ler.
Ileretofore, there l1.1VC bCCn VariOUS tCCI1I10I0giCa1 dCVC10l)mCI1tS
alld applications relatillg to tlle production of slurry-state fluids by mixing ~I hydroearbon oil, SUCI1 as tuel oil obtained by distillation of crude oil, for uses sueh as burner fuel witll a eoal after it h.ls been milled into ~ine powder for the purpose of obtaining a fluid mi.Yture eonvenient for pipeline eonveyanee or of obtaining a fluid mixture of high ealorifie value.
In addition to its use as a fuel as mentioned above, a eoal/hydro-earbon oil slurry of this eharaeter has attraeted attention in view of its uses as a starting material for various ehemieal proeesses.
This eoal/hydroearbon oil slurry is required, of eourse, to have an unehanging quality not only in its produetion proeess but also in its states oftransportationand storage. Aecordingly, the requisites ~hich this slurry must fulfil are that the coal particles thus mixed be fine partieles, that they be of a speeific partiele sizc clistributioll, tlmt they mairltain a homogeneously dispersed state, alld that sediment.ltivll scl~ tioll and coagulatioll lumpillg of the coal p;lrticles must not OCCUI`.
SU~ R~' Ol: llIE IN~l.NrlON
_ __ _ . . _ _ ___ _ ___ _ 'I`he presellt invelltioll rel;ltcs to a llovel app;lr.ltus tor carryill~
out wet-type millillg of a coal ~nd a llydrocalbon oil to provide such a slurry.
Aceording to this invention therc is provided an ap~aratus for produeing a liquid mixture of a eoal and a hydrocarbon oil eomprising: a ball mill ineluding a substantially horizontal rotary drum having a horizontal ~B ~
1~6~
axis and inlet and outlet end covers, said rotary drum having inlet and outlet bosses of cylindrical shape respectively fixed with mutually coaxial alignment to said inlet and outlet end covers and extending axially outwardly of the drum; heat applying means disposed around and secured to the outer surface of the drum; bearing means for rotatably supporting said bosses;
means for supplying througll said inlet boss intO the rotary drum the coal whicll prcviously h.ls bcen coarsely crushed and thc hyclrocarbon oil; mealls for plcileatillg the llydIocarboll oil l~rior to its being thtls supl)lied into the rotary drulll; mealls tor rotatin~ thc rotary drum to mill, agitate, and mix 1(1 therewitllin the coal and the oil thereby to form a liquid mixture; a discharge duct fixedly connected to said outlet boss so as to be rotatable witll the outlet boss for conducting therethrough the liquid mixture as well as any water, which was originally contained in the coal and which has been separatecl by evaporation from the liquid mixture, out of the rotary drum; a stationary discharge tower slidably supporting therein the free end of said discharge duct so as to receive the liquid mixture and water thereinto, said discharge tower having a bottom part to which the liquid mixture flows down and a top part through which the water flows upward; heating medium supply and dis-charge pipe means extending througll said discharge duct and said discharge tower and having one end connected to said heat applying mealls and the other end disposed outside said discharge tower for supl-lying and cliscllarging a heatillg mcdium to and from the hcat a})l-lying mc~.llls, said sul)l-ly and discllargc pipe mealls bcing rigiclly conllected to the rotary clr~ull allcl rotat.lble thcre-with; a rotary jOillt conllectillg saicl pile IllC`allS to he.lting me.llls forheating and circulatillg the hc?atillg meclillm; mealls for conchlctillg the liquicl mixture from said bottom part of the dischargc? tower to a stor.-ge tank; and means for drawing out the water from said top part of the discharge tower~
4~1 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAI~INGS
In the accompanying drawings which illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation~ with some parts cut away, some parts shown in vertical section, and some parts shown in schematic fonm, showinc one example of an ap~,a-ratus accordinc3 to this invention FIG. 2 is a relatively cnlarged sidc elevation, witl some parts cut away and some }~arts sho~m in vertical section, showinc3 the material supply part of the millinc3 ¦ machine o~ thc apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is ~ perspcctive viet~ showinc3 one example of thc sha~e o a hcating pii~c for hcatiny the cylindrical wall of a rotary drum of the ~i.lling machine of the appa-ratus shown .in FIG. l;
FIC. ~ is an cnlarc3cd sida elcvatioil, wit!l parts cut away and parts sllown in vcrtical section, of one yart on the discharcJe part of the millin~ machine of thc al~paratus shown in FIG. l;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view, with ~arts cut away and parts shown in loncJitudinal section, showing a rotary joint used in ~)e apparatus illustrated in FIG.l;
FIG. 6 is a cross section ta];en alon~ thc plane indicated by linc VI-VI in FIG. 4 as viewed in the arrow ¦ dir~ction;
¦ FIG. 7 is a cross SeCtiOII ~akcn a1QI1(J thc I~lanc indicatcd by linc VII-VII in FIG. 4 as vicwccl in tllc arrow dircction; allcl ¦. FIGS. ~ and ~ are per~s~ectiva views respcctivcly ¦ showinc3 exam~les of modifications of mealls for hcatincJ
the cylinclrical wall of the rotary dru~ of tlle milliny machine.
_ ~ _ ~ ~ ~ 6 ~'3 DETAILED DESCRIPTI0~
Referring to the drawings, and most particularly to FIG. 1, a coal such as coke, anthracite, bituminous coal, or brown coal is subjected before-hand to suitable coarse crushing and then is fed into the illustrated appara-tus through a coal supplying device 1 such as a holper as shown in FIG. 1.
From the hopper 1, the coal ls sent to a meterillg and feeclillg dcvice 3 eitllcr directly or by way of a pilrticlc sizc adjustincllt dcvicc '. 11l thc p;llticlc sizo udjustlllc;lt dcvicc 2, tllC p.lrticle sizc of thc coal is orclill;lriiy udjusted to 15mnl. or lcss or to 20mm. or lcss. Ihc IllCtCI'ill~ .Illd fCC`dillg dcvicc 3 fec(ls thc coal ut u specific metercd rate into a wct-typc ball mill ~, whicl is a wct~typc grinding machine.
On one halld, fuel oil uscd as the hyclrocarbon oil is puml)ed from a reservoir tank 5 by a pump 6 to a lleat-exchange device, where the oil is preheated to a specific temperature. The oil thus preheated is sent through a pipe line 8 into the inlet end of the ball mill ~, where it is mixed with the coal fed into the ball mill, and the coal is ground. The heat-exchange device 7 is supplied with heat from a heating device (not shown) via a heat-ing medium such as steam sent into the heat-e~cllange device tllrough a pipe line 9. The heating medium after 4~1 it has given up heat t.o the fuel oil is discharged from the heat-exchange device 7 through a pipe line 10.
The ratio of the quantities of the coal and the fuel oil fed into the ball mill 4 differs with factors such as the conditions of the wet grinding, resistance to transferring of the slurry, the method of storing the slurry, and the purpose of use of the slurry, but, in general, a high blending ratio such that the coal content becomes ~0 percent by weight is desirable. In thls con-nection, depending on the above mentioned conditions and the purpose of use of the slurry, the coal after leaving the coal supplying device 1 is sent directly to the meter-ing and feeding device 3, by-passing the particle size adjustment device 2.
The ball mill 4 used as a wet-type grinder has a construction as described below. This ball mill 4 has a rotary drum 12 rotatably supported to rotate about a horizontal axis of rotation. The inlet or upstream end and outlet or downstream end of this rotary drum 12 in its axial direction are respectively covered by end covers 13 and 14. A boss 15 is integrally secured to the inlet end cover 13, while a boss 16 is integrally secured to the outlet cover 14 and is coaxially ali~ned with the boss 15. These bosses 15 and 16 are rotatably journaled and supported by bearings 18 and 19, respectively, which are in turn supported on a common base or foundation 17.
Thus, the rotary drum 12 is rotatably supported at its ~64~
bosses 15 and 16 by the bearings 18 and 19. The rotary drum is driven in rotation by a driving power source (not shown) through a pinion (also not shown) meshed with a large gear 20 fixed to the inlet end cover 13.
Similarly as in a conventional ball mill, a large number of metal balls 22 to function as rolling struc-tures for the double purposes of agitation and grinding are provided in Eree state within the interior of the rotary drum 12.
An annular inner flange 23 is fixed at its radially outer periphery to the inner wall surface of the boss 15 at its inner end (or right-hand end as viewed in FIGS.
1 and 2) and is fixed at its radially inner rim to the inner end of a sealing cylinder 26 disposed coaxially within the boss 15. An annular outer flange 24 is fixed at its outer peripheral part to the outer end of the boss 15 and is fixed also to the outer end of the sealing cylinder 26. The flange 24 extends radially inward beyond the outer end of the sealing cylinder 26 toward a feed tube 33 described hereinafter. A helical sealing screw 27 is fixed to the inner wall surface of the sealing cylinder 26 in coaxial relation thereto.
As shown in FIG. 1, a pair o rails 29 is laid on the base 17 and disposed in parallel relation to the axial direction of the rotary drum 12. A carriage or truck 31 having a chassis 31a and wheels 30 is movably supported on these rails 29. A support pedestal 32 is 4~1 fixedly mounted on the chassis 31a at its end nearest the rotary drum 12. As shown in the relatively enlarged side view in FIG. 2, a feed tube 33 is mounted horizontal-ly on the pedestal 32. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, this feed tube 33 com2rises two concentric tubes. A coal feed stack 35 is communicatively joined to the upper part of the feed tube 33 at a position near the outer end -thereof or the end thereof remote from the rotary drum 12.
The other end of the feed tube 33, nearest the rotary drum 12, is open, while the outer end of the feed tube 33 is closed by an end cover plate 36, which has a central hole and is provided in this central hole with a bearing bush 37. A fuel oil feeding nozzle 38, to which the downstream end of the aforementioned pipe line 8 ls con-nected, is connected to a side part of the feed tube 33 to inject fuel into the interior thereof. The coal from the aforedescribed metering and feeding device 3 is fed into the above mentioned coal feed stack 35 as indicated by the arrow mark C. The aforementioned pre-heated fuel oil is fed through the pipe line 8 to the nozzle 38 and injectcd thereby into the feed tube 33.
A bearing support structure 40 is mounted on the chassis 31a of the truck 31 at a position near the end thereof remote from the rotary drum 12. This bearing support structure 40 supports two coaxially aligned bearings 41, which in turn rotatably support a rotating shaft 42. This shaft 42 is coupled at its one end by a coupling 43 to the outer end of a feed screw shaft 44, these two shafts 42 and 44 being coaxially aligned with the feed tube 33. The feed screw shaft 44 is passed through the above mentioned bearing bush 37 and extends into the feed tube 33 through almost the entire length thereo:E. A feed screw 45 is coaxially secured to the Eeed screw shaEt 44 along its part within the feed tube 33. A sprocket 47 is coaxially fixed to the outer end, or the end remote from the coupling 43, of the shaft 42.
The shaft 42 is driven in rotation by a motor (not shown) mounted on the truck 31 throu~h a dri~.~in~ sprocket, an endless chain (also not shown), and the sprocket 47.
In the case where the truck 31 is moved along the rails 29 in the direction away from the rotary drum 12, the feed tube 33 mounted on the truck 31 is extracted out of and separated from the sealing cylinder 26 and the sealing screw 27. Then, when the truck 31 is advanced in the opposite direction toward the rotary drum 12, the feed tube 33 enters the sealing cylinder 26 through a central hole of the aforedescribed outer flange 24. As the feed tube 33 thus enters the sealing cylinder 26, a seal packi.ng 48 secured to the rim of the central hole of the outer flange 24 elastically contacts the outer cylindrical surface of the feed tube 33, whereby a sealed state is established between the inner rim of the flange 24 and the outer cylindrical surface of the feed tube 33. When the feed tube 33 is fully inserted into its innermost position, its open discharge end is posi-tioned within the interior space of the rotary dru-n 12.
As shown in FIG. 1, a heating medium passageway 50 is provided around the outer cylindrical surface of the rotary dru~ 12 for the purpose of heating the cylindrica~
wall of the same. While it is possihle for this heatin~
medium passa~eway to assume almost any form suitable for heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12, it can be formed, for example, by a pipe bent and installed in a weaving pattern of back-and-forth extensions parallel to the drum axis as shown in FIG. 3. This pipe 50 of weaving pattern can be supplied with a heating medium such as steam introduced as indicated by the arrow mark 51 through the interior of the boss 16 on the outlet side and conducted to the pipe 50 via branch pipe paths 53 and 52. In this case, after passing through the pipe 50 of weaving pattern and heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12, the heating medium passes through pipe paths 54 and 55 and is conducted outward thr~ugh the interior of the boss 16 as indicated by the arrow mark 56.
For the purpose of supplying and discharging the heating medium to and from the cylindrical wall oE the rotary drum 12 through paths as described above, mechanisms of the construction shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 through 7, for example, can be used.
4~
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a flow passageway coupl-ing block 57 having therewithin passageways for a heating medium is fixed coaxially to the ce~tral part of the outer surface of end cover 14 on the outlet side of the rotary drum 12. This block 57 is provided therewithln with an inlet passageway 59 communicating at its outer end with a heating medium supply pipe 58, two passageways 60 and 61 branching ~rom the inlet passageway as shown in FIG. 6, and passageways 62 and 63 communicating with the inner ends of the passageways 60 and 61. Furthermore, the passageways 62 and 63 communicatively connected at their inner ends to the above described pipe paths 52 and 53, respectively, as shown in FIG. 3.
On one hand, the above described pipe paths 54 and 55 shown in FIG. 3 are communicatively connected to the inner ends of discharge passageways 66 and 67, respectively, also provided in the flow path coupling block 57 as shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the passage-way 67 communicates with the passageway 66 through a passageway 68. The passageway 66 extends through the block 57 in a direction parallel to the axial direction of the rotary drum 12 and is communicatively connected at its outer end by way of a pipe 69 to a heating medium discharge pipe 70. This heating medium discharge pipe 70 is disposed relative to the heating medium supply pipe 58 to be coaxially outside thereof and spaced apart therefrom.
4~1 As shown in FIG. 1, the heating medium supply pipe 58 and the heating medium discharge pipe 70 extend coaxially relative to and away from the rotary drum 12, and are rotatably supported at their ends remote from the rotary drum 12 by a rotary joint 72.
As shown in detail in FIG. 5, this rotary joint 72 comprises, essentially, a~ inner cylinder 72a, a middl~
cylinder 72b having an end wall 76 with a central through hole, and an outer cylinder 72c with a closed outer end~
These cylinders are integrally secured together in coaxial alignment by bolts 73 and 74 passed through their adjoining joint flanges. The end wall 76 constitutes a bearing which rotatably supports the outer end of the above described heating medium supply pipe 58. In order to isolate the interior space of the middle cylinder 72b and that of the outer cylinder 72c from each other, the end wall 76 is provided at its central hole with a seal-ing packing 77, which is fixel to the end wall 76 and is in intimate contact with outer surace of the heating medium supply pipe 58. The inner cylinder 72a houses and supports a bearing device 78 fo-- rotatably support-ing the outer end of the above described heating medium discharge pipe 70. The inner cylinder 72a is provided with a sealing packing 79 interposed be.ween a par. of the inner cylinder 72a and the extreme end surface of the heating medium discharge pipe 70.
By the above described construction, the interior of ~;;
the heating medium supply pipe 58 is communicatively joined to the interior space of the outer cylinder 72c, while the interior of the heating medium discharge pipe 70 is communicatively joined to the interior space of the middle cylinder 72b. An inlet fitting 81 for intro-ducing the heating medium is communicatively connected to the outer cylinder 72c, while an outlet fittin~ 82 for discharging the heating medium is communicatively connected to thc middle cylinder 72b. Thc rotary join-t of the above described construction is supported by a fixed structure (not shown) of the apparatus.
Referring again to FIG. 1, the heating medium which flows through the above described passageways and pipe paths is reheated and circulated by a heating medium system of the following organization. The heating medium is heated by a heating medium heating device 84 comprising a fuel burner 85 and a heating tube 86. The heating medium discharged out of the above described rotary joint 72 through the outlet fitting 82 flows through a return pipe line 89 and is pumped by a pump 87 to the heating device 84. The heating me~ium thus heated is sent through a supply pipe line 88 and enters the rotary joint 72 through the inlet fittlng 81.
As shown in FIG. 1, one end of a discharge duct for conducting out the liquid mixture of the coal and the fuel oil produced in the rotary drum 12 is inserted into the inner side of the boss 16 on the discharge side of the rotary drum 12. This discharge duct 90 is fixedly sup-ported and does not rotate when the boss 16 rotates unitarily with the rotary drum 12. The other end of the discharge duct 90 communicates with the interior of a discharge tower 91. The bottom 92 of this dlscharge tower 91 constitutes a part where the liquid mixture is taken out. The liquid mixture thus taken out is conducted by way oE an intermediate tank 93 and a pump 94 to a liquid mixture storage tank 95. The top part 97 of the discharge tower 91 constitutes a part where the discharged gas component is taken out. This top part 97 is connected through a separator 98 and a gas blower 99 to a gas diffusion cylinder 100.
A through opening is provided in a central part of the end cover 14 on the discharge end of the rotary drum 12, and a grating is fitted in this opening, although this constructional feature is not shown in FIG. 1.
The interior of the rotary drum communicates through this grating with the interior of the discharge duct 90.
Furthermore a bearing 101 is fixedly supported within the discharge lower 91 and serves to rotatahly support an intermediate part of the heating medium discharge pipe 70.
The operation of the apparatlls of the above described organization according to this invention will now be described.
The rotary drum 12 is driven in rotation by power transmitted from the aforementioned motor (not shown) through the pinion and the gear 20 fixed to the rotary drum7 At the same time, the feed screw 45 on the advanced truck 31 is driven by power transmitted from the motor (not shown) through the sprocket 47. On another hand, the heating medium heated by the heating device 84 is sent by the operation of -the pump 87 through the supply pipeline 88, the rotary joint 72, the heating medium supply pipe 58, the flow path coupling block 57, and pipe paths 52 and 1.0 53 into the heating pipe 50, therebv heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12. ~fter heating this cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12, the heating medium flows through the pipe paths 54 and 55, the flow patn coupling block 57, the heating medium discharge pipe 70, the rotary joint 72, the return pipe line 89, and the pump 87 to return again to the heating device 84.
With the apparatus in the above described operational state, the coarsely crushed coal is supplied continuously through the coal supply device 1, the particle size adjust~ent device 2, and the metering and feeding device 3 into the coal feed stack 35 of the ball mill 4.
This coal thus enters the feed tubc 33 and is conveyed toward the inlet of the rotary drum 12 by the actiorl of the feed screw 45. ~t the same time, the fuel oil which has been preheated by the heat exchanging device 7 is injected through the nozzle 38 into the feed tube 3~ and is mixed with the coal. The coal and the fuel oil mixed in this manner is fed continuously from the open end of the feed tube 33 into the rotary drum 12.
In the rotary drum 12, the coal and the fuel thus fed in a previously mixed state are moved in tumbling motion by the rotation of the rotary drum 12, and the coal pieces agitate the fuel oil. At the same time, the balls 22 within the rotary drum 12 impart a finely grind-ing action to the coal and, at the same time, uniformly mix the coal and the fuel oil.
The coal and the fuel oil which have been subjected to the above described grinding and mixing action within the rotary drum 12 are heated by the heat within the drum due to the heating of the drum cylindrical wall by the heating medium, whereby activation eneray is imparted to the coal and fuel oil. At the same time, the balls 22 are also heated. Consequently, in addition to the above described actions of agitation, grinding, and mixing, the volatile water component of water such as that contained in the coal and the fuel oil separates physicochemically from the liquid mixture of the coal and fuel oil during the rotary milling process and rises to the llpper p~rt of the rotary drum 12.
During the above described process, the particles of dust formed as a result of the qrinding are intercepted by the agitated surface of the liquid undergoing -tumbling.
That is, the dust particles are captured within the liquid mixture of the coal and fuel oil because of the tackiness 4~
of the liquid mixture and are not swept out together with the exhaust gases.
The coal is ground and mixed by agitation with the fuel oil in this manner and, together with the fuel oil, becomes a completely mixed liquid from which the volatile matter has been evaporated off. This liquid mixture exhibits tackiness as a uniform slurry and at an activation temperature is discharged continuously through the afore-mentioned gra-ting into thc discharge duct 90.
The liquid mixture of the coal and fuel oil thus discharged accumulates in the bottom 92 of the discharge tower 91, from which it is sent to the intermediate tank and, further, is finally stored in the storage tank 95.
The liquid mixture thus sent into the storage tank 95 is a thoroughly uniformized or homogenized slurry. For this reason, solid-liquid separation does not occur during its transfer process or at the stage of its storage in the storage tank 95. Accordingly, as a coal-fuel oil mixed fuel, this slurrv does not undergo variations in its material characteristics with the lapse of time and can be fed at any time to a device such as a burner.
Although heat energy is dissipated from this slurry during the transfer process and during storage, this has no effect whatsoever on the quality of the liquid mixture.
The volatile matter such as water which has evapor-ated in the rotary drum 12 passes through the discharge duct 90 to enter the discharge tower 9i and then flows through the top part 97 of the tower to the separator 98.
In the separator 98 any mist component mixed in free form in the volatile matter is separated from the gases. The mist component becomes a liquid, which is drained out through the bottom of the separator 98 as indicated by 102. The gas leaves the separator 98 from its upper part and is 6ent by the gas blower 99 to the gas diffusion cylinder 100, from which -the gas is dispersed into the atmosphere. While the separation of the mist is carricd out in the separator 98, in actual practice, almost all of the mist produced in the rotary drum 12 adheres to the liquid mixture and is thus intercepted because it contacts the liquid mixture, which has tackiness. For this reason, only a very small quantity of mist is sent out of the dis-charge tower 91.
At the time of maintenance and inspection of the ball mill 4, the truck 31 is retracted away from the rotary drum 12 along the rails 29. As a consequence, the feed tube 33 and the feed screw 45 therewithin are extracted outward, leaving the sealing cylinder 26 and the sealing screw 27. Therefore, cleaning, inspection, and repairing of the interior of the rotary drum 12 can be carried out through the interior of the scaling cylinder 26. The feed screw 45 can also be cleaned, inspected, and repaired.
While, in the embodiment of this invention described above, balls 22 are placed in the ball mill 4, it is also possible to use, instead, metal rods of suitable length.
! 18-Furthermore, depending on the necessity, a gas such as air may be sent by a blower 104 through a heating device 105 to be heated and then blown into the feed tube 33 as indicated in FIG. 1 thereby to further impart heat to the mixture of coal and fuel oil.
The hydrocarbon oil used in this invention is not limited to fuel oil, which is used as one example thereof in the above described embodiment of thc invention. Other hydrocarbon oils such as a liquid obtained from distilla-tion of fuel oil may be used instead.
Furthermore, the grinding machine 4 is not limited to an ordinary ball mill but may be some other equivalent means such as a vibratory ball mill or an agitation mill.
Still other modifications are possible in the means fox heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12.
For example, instead of using the heating pipe 50 instal-led in a weaving pattern as shown in FIG. 3 as means for heating the cylindrical wall of the rotary drum 12, a heating pipe 50A in the form of a helical coil as indicated in FIG. 8 may be used. Still another heating system comprises, as indicated in FIG. ~: a drum cylindrical wall of double-shell construction 107 with a hollow space between the inner and outer shells; baffles lO8 suitably installed in the hollow space for guiding the heating medium through an effective flow path as indicated by arrows; means for supplying and returning the heating medium as indicated by the arrow marks 51 and 56; pipe paths 109 to 110 for conducting the heating medium thus supplied to the hollow space; and pipe paths 111 and 112 for conducting the heating medium to the return path.
tn use of the apparatus, thc application of heat to the millillg process, such as thc hcati.ng of thc cylinclrical ~iall of thc mill drum or the i.ntro~uction of a hot gas into thc drum, is optional, but the prelleat:illg of thc hydroc~rbon o;l l1rior to thc supply.ing thercof into the m:illing macll.ine .is a ro(lui.s;itc. Sincc thc hcat cap.lcity of a milling m.lcllillc, sucll as, for examplc, a ball mill, in cntirety is large, a trcmclldous qualltity o:f heat energy i.s nccessclry for hcating the entire machinc~ In contrast, thc preheating of the hydrocarbon oil prior to the supplying thcreof into the milling machine is accompanied by small heat energy loss. ~loreover, im-mediately after it is injected into the milling machine, the hydrocarboIl oil directly contacts the coal, whereby the aforedescribed actions such as the moisture evaporation action are rapidly and efficiently carried out. Tllen, the numerous cyclec of colliding and abrading actions of the rolling elements such as balls relative to the coal particles as ~iell as the contacting, mix-ing, and diffusing actions of the solid, liquid, and gaseous mattcr in the machine are effcctively carried out.
Si.nce the llydrocarboll oil is al~ s prcscllt in tilC mill.illg nracllille, the milling machillc fullctiolls as a ~ct-tylc milling m;lcllillc. I`ll:is mc~lns th~lt a dry fine-griIlding proccss, as in ~nowll proccsscs, for millillg of thc coal is not carried out. Accordillgly, tllc d;lllgcr of c~l)losioll dUC t~ finc coal dust is eliminated, aIld safe operation bccomcs possiblc. Ihis mcalls tllc advantageous possibility of rcduciIlg safcty equiplllcnt by that m~lch.
Furtllermorc, as a beneficial result of tllc heatcd state of the coal particles and the hydrocarboll oil in the milling machine, thc moisture in the coal can be readily removed. Therefore, there is no necessity to dry the coal beforehand. In addition, by increasing the fluidity of liquid mixture in slurry state formed in the milling machine, it becomes possible to form a uniform dispersed phase.
The liquid mixture in slurry state produced, irrespective of whether it is used as a fuel or whether it is used as a chemical starting material, has several advantageous features, among which are small ~luctua-tion of coul ratio, infrc(lucncy of prcsencc of coarsely large coal larticlcs, noll-occurronce of sc~J:imcnt.ltion, scl)aratioll, coaglllation, all~ ardcl~ g, and goo~ stablc ~ual;ty.
Claims (7)
- THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
l. An apparatus for producing a liquid mixture of a coal and a hydro-carbon oil comprising:
a ball mill including a substantially horizontal rotary drum having a horizontal axis and inlet and outlet end covers, said rotary drum having inlet and outlet bosses of cylindrical shape respectively fixed with mutually coaxial alignment to said inlet and outlet end covers and extending axially outwardly of the drum;
heat applying means disposed around and secured to the outer surface of the drum;
bearing means for rotatably supporting said bosses;
means for supplying through said inlet boss into the rotary drum the coal which previously has been coarsely crushed and the hydrocarbon oil;
means for preheating the hydrocarbon oil prior to its being thus supplied into the rotary drum;
means for rotating the rotary drum to mill, agitate, and mix therewithin the coal and the oil thereby to form a liquid mixture;
a discharge duet fixedly connected to said outlet boss so as to be rotat-able with the outlet boss for conducting therethrough the liquid mixture as well as any water, which was originally contained in the coal and which has been separated by evaporation from the liquid mixture, out of the rotary drum a stationary discharge tower slidably supporting therein the free end of said discharge duct so as to receive the liquid mixture and water thereinto, said discharge tower having a bottom part to which the liquid mixture flows down and a top part through which the water flows upward;
heating medium supply and discharge pipe means extending through said discharge duct and said discharge tower and having one end connected to said heat applying means and the other end disposed outside said discharge tower for supplying and discharging a heating medium to and from the heat applying means, said supply and discharge pipe means being rigidly connected to the rotary drum and rotatable therewith;
a rotary joint connecting said pipe means to heating means for heating and circulating the heating medium;
means for conducting the liquid mixture from said bottom part of the discharge tower to a storage tank; and means for drawing out the water from said top part of the discharge tower, - 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for blowing a hot gas against the coal being supplied into the rotary drum in substantially the direction of supplying of the coal.
- 3. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which said means for supplying the coal and the hydrocarbon oil is mounted on a truck movable toward and away from the milling machine.
- 4. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which said means for supplying coal and the hydrocarbon comprises a feed tube opening into the rotary drum, a feed screw rotatably disposed within the feed tube and extending coaxially with the feed tube for supplying the coal, and an oil feeding nozzle opening into the feed tube.
- 5. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which said heat applying means is a heating medium passage pipe secured on the outer surface of the rotary drum in a weaving pattern of extensions parallel to the axis of the drum.
- 6. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which said heat applying means is a heating medium passage pipe secured on the outer surface of the rotary drum in a helical coil pattern.
- 7. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which said heat applying means is a double shell structure with a hollow space in which baffles are disposed to guide the heating medium.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP7217678A JPS54163780A (en) | 1978-06-16 | 1978-06-16 | Solid and liquid stirring * milling and separating apparatus |
| JP72,176/1978 | 1978-06-16 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1116401A true CA1116401A (en) | 1982-01-19 |
Family
ID=13481646
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000325813A Expired CA1116401A (en) | 1978-06-16 | 1979-04-12 | Apparatus for production of a stable slurry of milled coal and a hydrocarbon oil |
Country Status (5)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US4288166A (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS54163780A (en) |
| AU (1) | AU526679B2 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1116401A (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2028867B (en) |
Families Citing this family (16)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE3120602C2 (en) * | 1981-05-23 | 1983-11-17 | Uhde Gmbh, 4600 Dortmund | "Process for converting ground, water-containing lignite into a pumpable, dehydrated suspension of finely ground lignite and oil" |
| JPS5896690A (en) * | 1981-12-03 | 1983-06-08 | Electric Power Dev Co Ltd | Preparation of concentrated coal slurry |
| NZ207098A (en) * | 1983-02-17 | 1986-09-10 | Univ Melbourne | Upgrading brown coal by subjecting it to shear forces |
| EP0130788B1 (en) * | 1983-06-28 | 1987-01-28 | Babcock-Hitachi Kabushiki Kaisha | Process for producing a coal-water slurry |
| US4923124A (en) * | 1985-01-31 | 1990-05-08 | Microfuel Corporation | Method of pneumatic comminution |
| US4824031A (en) * | 1985-01-31 | 1989-04-25 | Microfuel Corporation | Means of pneumatic comminution |
| US4819885A (en) * | 1985-01-31 | 1989-04-11 | Microfuel Corporation | Means of pneumatic comminution |
| US4819884A (en) * | 1985-01-31 | 1989-04-11 | Microfuel Corporation | Means of pneumatic comminution |
| US4963250A (en) * | 1989-11-09 | 1990-10-16 | Amoco Corporation | Kerogen agglomeration process for oil shale beneficiation using organic liquid in precommunication step |
| US9764329B2 (en) * | 2013-01-15 | 2017-09-19 | Aaron Engineered Process Equipment, Inc. | Rotary mill |
| ITUA20162091A1 (en) * | 2016-03-29 | 2017-09-29 | Mario Dazzi | MILLING PLANT |
| JP6534482B2 (en) * | 2017-10-27 | 2019-06-26 | 淺田鉄工株式会社 | Twin screw disperser |
| CN109999701A (en) * | 2019-05-13 | 2019-07-12 | 姜辉道 | A kind of efficient mixing arrangement of Western medicine Pharmacy drug |
| CN112792496B (en) * | 2020-12-29 | 2021-12-07 | 山西兴达通机电设备有限公司 | Aluminum supplementing device and aluminum supplementing method in welded pipe production line |
| CN113059165A (en) * | 2021-03-26 | 2021-07-02 | 成都虹波实业股份有限公司 | Efficient powder wet mixing and drying integrated equipment |
| CN117920432B (en) * | 2024-03-21 | 2024-05-28 | 江苏中基鸿业矿业科技有限公司 | Broken edulcoration powder process device of quartz sand |
Family Cites Families (9)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US2131308A (en) * | 1935-01-21 | 1938-09-27 | Blumner Erwin | Production of colloidal fuel |
| US2231513A (en) * | 1938-11-05 | 1941-02-11 | Fuel Res Corp | Liquid fuel |
| US2448042A (en) * | 1943-09-14 | 1948-08-31 | Girdler Corp | Mixing apparatus |
| US2471487A (en) * | 1945-08-20 | 1949-05-31 | Herbert S Simpson | Mixer |
| US2623737A (en) * | 1950-01-09 | 1952-12-30 | Olympic Mfg Corp | Material conditioning apparatus |
| US2795404A (en) * | 1954-03-23 | 1957-06-11 | Jr Fritz G Cornell | Mixer |
| US3381944A (en) * | 1963-11-21 | 1968-05-07 | Grace W R & Co | Apparatus for conveying and blending solids |
| US3752447A (en) * | 1971-08-16 | 1973-08-14 | Monsanto Co | Mixer apparatus |
| US3932145A (en) * | 1973-05-03 | 1976-01-13 | Foulke Willing B | Fuel preparation process |
-
1978
- 1978-06-16 JP JP7217678A patent/JPS54163780A/en active Granted
-
1979
- 1979-04-12 GB GB7912916A patent/GB2028867B/en not_active Expired
- 1979-04-12 CA CA000325813A patent/CA1116401A/en not_active Expired
- 1979-04-17 US US06/030,868 patent/US4288166A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1979-04-18 AU AU46187/79A patent/AU526679B2/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB2028867B (en) | 1982-09-02 |
| JPS54163780A (en) | 1979-12-26 |
| AU526679B2 (en) | 1983-01-27 |
| US4288166A (en) | 1981-09-08 |
| AU4618779A (en) | 1979-12-20 |
| JPS5720844B2 (en) | 1982-05-01 |
| GB2028867A (en) | 1980-03-12 |
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| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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| MKEX | Expiry |